Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Antonio Figuero. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Antonio, thanks for joining us today. One of our favorite things to brainstorm about with friends who’ve built something entrepreneurial is what they would do differently if they were to start over today. Surely, there are things you’ve learned that would allow you to do it over faster, more efficiently. We’d love to hear how you would go about setting things up if you were starting over today, knowing everything that you already know.

Stick with it from the very beginning. One of the first things I learned to do upon finishing school was cut hair, but I then abandoned that to go and do a host of other things over the years, including radiology – doing X-rays and MRI – and all just to end right back up where I originally started, which was… cutting hair. It reminds me of a story I once heard about a man in Africa who was hearing about everyone getting wealthy off of diamond mines and so he decided to sell his farm and land and go off in pursuit of diamonds. He never got that breakthrough, eventually gave up and committed suicide. Meanwhile, the man who had purchased his farm ended up finding a stone in the river on the land the farm was on, took it home because he thought it looked pretty and placed it on display on the mantle. One day, a visitor came to his home and asked him if he knew the value of the supposed ‘stone’ he had found. The man responded that he had no idea of its value, he just liked how it looked and that there were many more like it scattered all over the river on the farm. It turns out that that was one of the largest diamond mines that had been found to date. If the original owner had just stuck with what he had to begin with, he would have found everything he was in pursuit of. That’s how I feel about my business; had I not gone in pursuit of other occupations, I would have been in the position I’m currently in much sooner, and known the diamond mine I was sitting on all along.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Where do I begin? I would like to say that I’m primarily known as a professional artist in Trinidad & Tobago, having produced artwork since 2015 and specialising in plein air painting. I have participated in a number of exhibitions to date and sold pieces to collectors at a regional and global scale, and I had my first solo exhibition in November 2021. My medium of choice is oil paints, and I am particularly inspired by those moments that people will often miss in the hustle and bustle of everyday life, but those are the moments that tell the most intriguing stories in my opinion. I published a first volume memoir of my life as an artist the year prior to my solo exhibition, so I’m grateful to be able to have ‘published author’ next to my name as well. I still paint – it is my first love – but having a family of my own and following the complete havoc that COVID would have caused in so many lives, I returned to some of the other skills I would have had since the start, namely barbering, except that this time I pursued it quite relentlessly. This meant taking courses and studying various techniques to up my game in the hair and beauty industry as a whole, including the business aspect. Creatives aren’t generally known to be the best business people, but this is where I believe I am set apart. because the way I think is both creative and strategic, which works in business. I now own my own salon and spa and the business keeps expanding as we add various services and talent to the salon experience. I think being multi-faceted is a huge asset to any individual, so every gift I have has been transferable and useful in some way on this journey. I’m juggling being a business owner, hair stylist and artist all at the same time right now and it all feels quite natural and harmonious to me. All of this is not just for kicks, because first and foremost I am a man of God, a husband and a father, which has a way of lighting a different type of fire under you when it comes to providing for your family!

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I truly believe that you’re only as good as your last post in this social media age, and so you’re not actually in competition with anyone but yourself once you focus on getting better with every new post. For me, this meant upping my game in every way possible, from the quality of the content to the tools I used to even create the content in the first place. I ask myself the question, “What would I want to see from a brand or service like mine if I were the target customer for the business?” And so I post based on that – if I were the customer, what would intrigue me, what would capture my attention and what would engage me the most? But also, the posts can’t just be there for the sake of being there. Every post is with the intention of creating leads on potential customers and sales, and so, if the content isn’t pushing the quality of work or the customer experience, then it’s not going to work for me.

In the beginning, quantity is actually more important than quality, because the repetition of seeing your name and brand is what sticks in people’s minds and naturally makes you the go-to person for whatever it is you are promoting or selling. When people see your posts regularly, it builds a trust that keeps you top-of-mind when it comes to people spending money on your service or product or even making a recommendation. Of course, the quality must improve over time, but that quantity makes a difference when starting out. I think consistency in posting is also key, because there are millions of people who do ‘the thing’ better than you and there are millions of accounts and posts out there that saturate the space. If you stay focused on your slice of it and steward that properly, then you can gain the views, the followers and the attention that your niche deserves and even beyond that. It’s really important not to allow what everyone else is doing to overwhelm you, but to stay consistent in delivering the content that matches the talent and vision that you have, and the rest will follow.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

I try to connect with my viewers and followers at an emotional level because what I want them to think when they see my content is: “I want to feel like that”. One of the ways I do this is through the transformations that take place at the salon, with before and after and process videos that show my clients blooming into their most beautiful selves. It could be a little pick-me-up hair colour or sometimes a complete transformation of how they look with, say, a big chop, brand new style and makeover. Just like with art, the work that I do in the salon and post online has to make the followers feel something. This is what causes them to engage with the content and that then pushes the online presence and interaction beyond the immediate demographic as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.antoniosalon.com
• Instagram: @cutsbyantonio OR @antoniofiguerofineart OR @antonio_thesalonandspa
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/antonio.figuero.artist
• Other: TikTok – @cutsbyantonio

Image Credits
In the main profile image, the photographer is Elise Romany. For all other photographs, I own the copyright.